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Overnight was cool again (only in the high 40’s), with one raucous feeding at 3:42 AM. The next feeding took place at 5:13. During that, Chick # 4 ripped part of the meal away from Astrid. The two had a little tug-o-war over it, which (no surprise) Astrid won. After which she resumed feeding. At 7:06, Astrid brought over about half a pigeon and proceeded to feed the nestlings. Once the chicks had received a good portion, she began taking a share herself, and right there in the nest. Ares came to the box at 7:52 and he began feeding the nestlings some leftovers that were scattered around in the box. At 9:10, he came back to the box, but this time with a more substantial hunk of food. Astrid met him there, took the food and flew off. She brought most of it back twelve minutes later and fed the brood. Rain started falling before midday and continued as light showers. The nestlings alternated rest with exercise, which consisted of flapping their wings and walking around the box. One of the chicks (I think it’s # 3) likes to dig or at least poke around in the back corner of the nest box. We’re not sure why or what he hopes to accomplish with that behavior. Later as the first chick wildly flapped its wings, another watched it with its head cocked to the side. Ares came into the box at 2:03 PM with a small hunk of meat. One of the chicks immediately grabbed the food away from him. Now empty handed, he decided to cut and run. That was easy to understand considering the mob he was facing. He came back twelve minutes later and resumed feeding the nestlings scraps from the floor. At 4:15, there was what seemed like a repeat performance: Ares came to the nest with a very small scrap of food; chick # 4 grabbed it away from him; he left shortly after. Steady rain made for a quiet late afternoon and we saw little action from the parent falcons. At 5:30, finally there was a more substantial feeding. Ares brought it and Astrid did the feeding, which was surprisingly polite and orderly. At 6:27, Ares stopped at the box and tried to offer two of the chicks an old bone that had been lying on the floor of the box. Unsurprisingly, nobody was interested in it. Later in the evening, overcast skies and steady rain slowed everything down to a crawl. Ares was seen making a few hunting forays, but nothing else was brought to the nest. The chicks, for their part, did a lot of preening and sleeping. We shall see if there is any more action in the overnight hours.

 

It was another cool evening with some light showers overnight. Ares brought food to the nest box at 3:58 AM and Astrid swooped in to do the feeding. At 5:20, Astrid was back, but this time seemed to be feeding out only some scraps that were already in the box. As soon as it was light enough, we could see how the appearance of the nestlings continues to rapidly evolve. Their primary and secondary flight feathers have grown out significantly, as have their tail feathers. Beneath their black face masks the chicks’ tan cheek patches are now quite obvious. Dark contour feathers are just starting to poke through their downy white body plumage. They will soon have a salt & pepper look. The nestlings (particularly eldest one) are doing much more exercising. Now when the parents show up at the box they can expect to be greeted by a riotous mob – all screeching, crowding and grabbing. It’s just going to get more intense as we move closer to fledging time. At 7:30 AM, Astrid was very upset. She was standing on the nest box’s main perch and giving long cackle alarm calls. Just like yesterday morning, she did this for several minutes, and again, like yesterday, we don’t know what triggered it. Ares was perched on the State Building at the time. All four chicks were snug in the nest. No intruders were seen (by us anyway), and since it was Saturday there were no people in the offices adjacent to the nest box. What was her issue? At 8:45, Ares came to the box with prey. This time it was a freshly caught Great-crested Flycatcher. Astrid took it and did the feeding. Only fifteen minutes later, Ares was back with more prey – something that had already been plucked and wasn’t easily recognizable. Astrid barreled into the box, snatched the prey away from Ares and did the feeding. After that medium sized meal there wasn’t any other feedings until 3:40, when Astrid brought in what looked like an immature starling. Before that the nestlings did a lot of sleeping, exercising and watching the world outside of the box. During that long spell between meals, Ares did visit the box once. When he came inside the chicks rushed him and pecked at his bill. His initial reaction was to retreat back out onto the perch, but then he jumped back into the box and tried to feed out a whole cuckoo wing first to one chick and then another. Each in turn would take it and then drop it to the floor – leaving it for Ares to pick it up again and give it to another. It was a good game to pass the time until a real meal came in. At 5:08 PM, we saw A&A soaring around the canyon on the PTZ camera. They were using the steady winds to glide around the State Building, pick up speed and then dart off to the north, presumably in search of prey. The nestlings watched their parents’ stunts and screeched in response. At 6:53, Astrid returned to the box with something small and apparently picked-over. Chick # 4 immediately grabbed it away from her. For a minute it seemed like Astrid didn’t know what happened to it and she began feeding out a truly minute piece that was still in her talons. Finally she realized what had happened, snatched the food back from the thief and began a proper – if short feeding.  At 7:30 PM, Ares came to the nest with another starling. This time he conducted the feeding. This was while Astrid was still out of sight. She came back to the State Building about 5 minutes later and then flew over to the box. Since Ares was deep into the feeding, she restrained her urge to grab the food away from him – or at least she held back for a few minutes. Finally she dove in to take over. His response was to take what remained and leave! At 8:00, Astrid returned to the box with the leftovers from the last meal and finished the feeding. About half way through, Ares screeched by the box and then landed on the church steeple. What the meaning of that is anyone’s guess.

 

 

It was a chilly evening last night, but temperatures rose into the low sixties by mid-morning. Of course the gusty winds made it seem much colder. Leave it to the falcons to make a liar out if me. In my last update I wrote about how overnight feedings were a thing of the past and then last night there were two early morning feedings. The first took place at 2:06 AM, when Ares brought in what appeared to be a cuckoo. At 3:38, Ares brought more prey to the nest box perch, but then he waited about a half hour before feeding the chicks from the lip of the box. Astrid then came to the nest and gestured to Ares that it was time for him to leave. However, when he left he took the food with him. Astrid waited on the perch for about 40 minutes before finally feeding the chicks leftover scraps that were already kicking around in the box. At 7:45 AM, Astrid became very upset and began giving incessant cackling alarm calls from the east veranda. Ares had just sailed off – either after prey or after an intruder, we didn’t know which. Given the intensity of Astrid’s flip out, we believe that an intruder was involved. There seemed to be no other obvious causes of her anxiety, like active cranes or people on the roof. Finally she did settle down and at 8:12, Ares brought a cuckoo to the box. Astrid took it and did a normal feeding. Chick # 1 and # 4 were front and center for the food. The other nestlings got something but not much. The next feeding was at 9:50. Ares brought in a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Astrid started to feed, but then chick # 4 grabbed the whole meal away from her! Either Chick # 2 or # 3 started biting at Astrid’s tail. It seems the feedings are getting increasingly chaotic. Astrid soon tugged the prey back and started serving it out again. The next feeding was at 11:00. This time it was a Black-billed Cuckoo (Yes, a third cuckoo in one morning!) Astrid did the feeding as usual.  Through the afternoon A&A did some hunting, but didn’t manage to secure anything. Ares stopped at the box at 3:05 and fed the chicks some leftover scraps. The wind really picked up in the afternoon and the falcons were using it to their best advantage. They were soaring, hovering, diving and ascending with great ease. Meanwhile, the nestlings were getting restless and whenever an adult came to the box to check on them they were greeted by a screeching, hungry mob. One of the chicks (number one, I think) often stands in the center of the box and stares out into the canyon – watching and waiting for a parent to return. After not seeing Ares for some time, at 5:50 PM, he finally returned to the box – this time with a Mourning Dove. Astrid came in to deal with the feeding frenzy that ensued.  That wasn’t surprising given the length of time they went without a proper meal. After the feeding, Astrid did some fantastic gliding around the State Building and through the canyon. Ultimately she soared high and headed south. Following a quick check on the nestlings, Ares dove low behind M&T Bank, presumably trying to flush up some of the pigeons that hang out there. At 6:30, Ares was back to the box with food – this time it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Astrid took the prey and did the feeding. The final feeding for the day (I think) took place at 8:09 PM. This time it was a pigeon that had been partially plucked and processed. All four chicks got plenty to eat during the meal. Table manners were horrid and featured food grabbing, food stealing, tail biting, and some sneak attacks. I make no predictions about nocturnal feedings tonight. We shall just wait and see.

 

 

 

There were no feedings in the overnight hours – that is if we don’t include the last feeding of the day on Wednesday, which began at 9:56 PM and went on for at least 45 minutes! It does seem that super early morning feedings may be a thing of the past now that the nestlings are older, stronger and able to handle longer intervals between meals. At 5:00 AM, Astrid came to the box and began feeding out some leftover scraps from the previous night’s meal. It was just a few bites and it hardly constituted breakfast. Fortunately, only ten minutes later, Ares came to the nest box with fresh prey. Astrid grabbed it and handled the feeding, which is always her prerogative. Over the last few days we’ve noticed how the eyesight of the nestlings has been developing. They can now watch their parents from a distance. They watch them as they fly through the canyon and when they dart out after prey. The chicks respond to what they see by bobbing their heads up and down and by vocalizing. The next feeding happened at 8:53 when Ares arrived at the box with prey. At 11:02, he brought more food, but this time the prey was something unusual – a Semipalmated Sandpiper, which is a sparrow-sized migrant shorebird. Although the species is not an uncommon late summer migrant in the region, they are normally hard to come by in spring. Still, somehow Ares manages to find them. The next feeding occurred at 12:42 PM and afterwards the chicks enjoyed a long siesta – although it was occasionally interrupted by bouts of lively wing flapping and loud calling. At 4:45, dinner arrived at the box and Astrid did the feeding. One of the nestlings bit Astrid’s tail a few times while she was plucking the food. Ares brought in another Semipalmated Sandpiper at 6:20 (It’s as if they were on special somewhere?) Astrid took it and this time chick # 4 was the first in line to be fed. A few minutes into the feeding, Ares returned with another meal – this time it was an unrecognizable hunk of meat. Astrid took it and added it to the pot. At one point in the feeding, Astrid gave chick # 4 an entire sandpiper wing. For a while the chick tried to swallow it, but thankfully, gave up and dropped it. While the feeding was going on, chick # 3 was mostly standing in a corner of the box – looking at the wall. With the scant remainder of the meal, Astrid walked over. She managed to get the loner’s attention and fed out the last few bites. As I’m finishing up this update, the parent falcons are perched on the State Building and all four nestlings are crashed out in the nest box. Looking at them while they are sprawled out, I am astounded by the rate of growth of their wing and tail feathers. During the course of the last 24 hours, they appear to have grown nearly an inch. It’s a good reminder just how close we are getting to fledge time. Only about two weeks to go now folks!

 

There were no overnight feedings last night, which seems to be the new trend. Both parents were in hunting mode in the early morning, but nothing was brought back to the box until 7:47 AM ish, when Ares came in with what looked to be a Mourning Dove. This is the latest breakfast we’ve seen this season. All the nestlings promptly lined up for this feeding since it had been so long in coming. Another feeding took place at 9:54. Shortly after, the adult falcons were heard giving alarm calls before darting out of the canyon. It was possible that there was an intruder, but none could be confirmed. It’s true that as the chicks develop and get closer to fledging, the parents (especially Astrid) become more sensitive regarding the presence of any potential predator in the territory. For the balance of the morning, A & A continued to be on edge and were missing from view for extended periods of time. At 12:14, Ares came to the box with a Black-billed Cuckoo. He started to feed, but one of the chicks latched onto it with its talons and tried to pull it away! Ares was in the midst of tugging it back when Astrid appeared at the box. Instead of giving the prey to his mate so she could conduct the feeding, Ares flew away with it and stored it on the State Building.  At 12:17, Astrid began doing a lot of screeching. We thought that maybe she wanted Ares to come back with the food, but it wasn’t happening. Astrid seemed to be upset, but we weren’t sure why. Was there a crane or a cherry-picker being operated in the canyon? Those things annoy the heck out of her. Perhaps she’s upset with Ares for putting that last meal away prematurely. Regardless, Ares did bring more food at 1:00. He fed the young for a little while, and then, just like before, one of the chicks grabbed the food away from him. At 2:55 PM, another feeding took place. Ares brought in what looked like another cuckoo and Astrid served it to the nestlings. Again in the late afternoon, the falcon pair may have been alarmed by intruders or some equipment in the canyon. However, it was possible that they were only out on a prey sortie. In the mid-morning some fierce rain storms skirted the area – some where to the south of Downtown and some to the north. The wind picked up at 4:30 ish and some rain began pelting the canyon. We expected one of the parent falcons to swoop in to guard the nest box, but they didn’t. Apparently A & A thought the chicks were safe enough on their own in the box; or, they somehow knew the storm wasn’t going to amount to much. At 5:20 PM, the young falcons received a feeding. Ares brought the meal in and Astrid ripped it up and served it. All the chicks got in line as they had done with the first meal of the day.

The Utica Peregrine Falcon Project sponsored a Falcon watch on Wednesday night. The weather was perfect. We saw A & A in the canyon for most of the evening. At around 7:20 PM, when the pair failed to catch any fresh prey, we watched Ares fly over to his “pantry” on the State Building and pull out a stored cuckoo. This he brought over to the nest box. He passed it to Astrid and she did the feeding. A little later on, Astrid went over to the hotel and had a drink from one of the large puddles on the lower ledge of the building. At 8:30, we thought the show was over; we were wrapping up the watch and heading to our cars. Suddenly Ares left his perch on the State Building and flew back and forth once before the east face of the ADK Bank Building. He stirred up a pigeon and then drove it south toward Elizabeth Street and towards Astrid. She tore after it, but didn’t secure it. After that, it was getting dark, but the pair didn’t seem to be finished for the night. Astrid perched on the ledge of the hotel – watching for prey, and Ares sailed off to the north and possibly went hunting near the river. At 9:45, Astrid returned to the nest box just to do a quick check. After she left we thought, finally, that was it for the night. And then at 9:56 PM, Astrid piled into the box with a clunk – carrying a large prey item in her talons. It was either a Pigeon or a Woodcock – hard to tell in the dark. A long feeding followed. Thanks to all that attended tonight’s falcon watch. It was a good one!